History of the Constable

On March 5, 1823, John Tumlinson Sr., the first alcalde of the
Colorado district of the Old 300 of Stephen Fuller Austin's colony, is
considered by many Texas Ranger historians to be the first Texas
Ranger killed in the line of duty. He wrote to the Baron de Bastrop in
San Antonio that he had "appointed but one officer who acts in
the capacity of constable to summon witnesses and bring offenders to
justice." That appointee, Thomas V. Alley, thus became the first
Anglo law enforcement officer in the future republic and state of
Texas. Other prominent colonists who served as constable included John
Austin and James Strange.

The Constitution of the Republic of Texas (1836) provided for the
election in each county of a sheriff and "a sufficient number of
constables." During the 10 years of the republic's existence, 38
constables were elected in 12 counties, the first in Nacogdoches
County and the largest number (13) in Harrisburg (later Harris)
County. Court records indicate that violent crime was rare in the
republic, except when horse or cattle thieves entered Texas from
Arkansas or Louisiana. Most indictments were for nonlethal crimes such
as illegal gambling or assaults resulting from fights or scuffles.
Juan N. Seguín and Elliott M. Millican both served as constables
during the republic.

Shortly after Texas became a state, an act passed by the legislature
specified that the constable should be "the conservator of the
peace throughout the county," adding that "it shall be his
duty to suppress all riots, routs, affrays, fighting, and unlawful
assemblies, and he shall keep the peace, and shall cause all offenders
to be arrested, and taken before some justice of the peace."
Constables were the most active law-enforcement officials in many
counties during the early statehood of Texas.

After Texas seceded from the United States in 1861, many county
offices, including that of constable, remained unfilled or were filled
by men less competent than their predecessors. During the military
occupation of Texas after the Civil War, the election of county
officials all but ceased, as the Union military appointed more than
200 individuals to state and county offices. A number of these
appointees refused to serve; from 1865 to 1869, over one-third of the
county offices in Texas were vacant. Many counties had no appointed or
elected constables during this period. Austin, DeWitt, Fayette,
McLennan, and Navarro counties had but a single constable each,
appointed by Gen. Edward R. S. Canby, head of the Fifth Military
District, in 1868-69.

Under the Constitution of 1869, a Reconstruction document that
centralized many governmental functions, no constables were elected in
Texas from 1869 to 1872, though some were appointed by justices of the
peace. Many of these appointees lacked experience in handling violent
offenders and access to secure jail facilities, and had few deputies
to call upon for assistance. They were no match for the poor,
embittered, and heavily armed former soldiers from both sides who
roamed the state, often turning to crime. As a result, the office of
constable began to diminish in importance, and the better-equipped
county sheriffs began to assume a leading role in law enforcement.
Still, a number of prominent Texas peace officers of the late 19th and
20th Centuries began their careers as constables or deputy constables,
including Thomas R. Hickman, George A. Scarborough, and Jess Sweeten.
In 1896, while serving as a United States deputy marshal, Scarborough
shot and killed the controversial El Paso constable John Selman, who
had himself gunned down the notorious John Wesley Hardin in 1895.

The Constitution of 1876, designed to decentralize control of the
state government, reduced the power of many state officials and
mandated that constables would once again be elected at the precinct
level. A 1954 constitutional amendment extended their term of office
from two years to four. Today, constables numbering approximately 780
are elected from precincts in most Texas counties. Their
law-enforcement roles vary widely, but in general their police powers
are no different from those of other peace officers in the state.

Complete records do not exist, but the most recent estimate is that
at least 93 Texas constables have died in the line of duty, including
67 in the 20th Century.

TARRANT COUNTY, TEXAS

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